


One of those days

by alicedragons



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Underfell, Alternate Universe - Underswap, Depression, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mild Angst, Mostly H/C, Undertale Monsters on the Surface
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-28
Updated: 2018-05-28
Packaged: 2019-05-14 19:24:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,146
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14775750
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/alicedragons/pseuds/alicedragons
Summary: There are days when Rus is fine. Functional. Days he can manage. Days he can hold himself together.This is not one of those days.





	One of those days

**Author's Note:**

> Based on an idea from Cheapbourbon. Theirs got a lot angstier than this--a bit angstier than I'm currently equipped to handle. This still isn't very happy. More emphasis on the hurt/comfort than the angst, but make sure you read the tags.

Edge knew as soon as he opened the front door that something wasn’t right. That today wasn’t a good day. It was one of  _those_ days. He knew before he’d even closed the door behind him. The curtains hadn’t been opened and empty honey bottles and dirty dishes littered the coffee table and living room floor. The air was heavy and uncomfortably warm, stagnant.

On the sofa, Rus lay on his back. His eyes were on his phone, but it was clear from his disinterested expression that it wasn’t for the sake of entertainment. He was still wearing his pyjamas, he’d just pulled his hoodie over the top. After placing his keys on the hook, Edge lifted Rus’s legs and sat beside him on the couch, watching him. Rus barely spared him a glance.

“No work today?” Edge asked, scratching up and down Rus’s tibia through his sweatpants. Rus hummed his acknowledgement of the question without looking away from his phone, and shook his head. Edge nodded, and didn’t question him further.

A  _very_ not-good day then.

“I’m making dinner,” he said, “what would you like?”

Rus shrugged, rolling onto his side. “anything.”

‘Anything’ was better than ‘nothing’, at least. “I’ll make soup,” Edge said, lifting Rus’s feet once again and standing. Rus made no response, but his eye-lights flickered to Edge as he began to gather the mess of dishes and bottles from the coffee table. He made no move to help, but his features were heavy with guilt, shame. “Why don’t you go take a shower?” Edge suggested as he headed to the kitchen, dropping the dishes in the sink.

Rus remained where he was, but dropped his phone onto the sofa’s cushions next to him. He sighed heavily then hummed, shrugging. Edge considered the dishes before him, then looked back at Rus. Dinner would take at least an hour to prepare, but…

“I’ll join you,” he said, rounding the breakfast bar and walking back to the couch.

“it’s fine,” Rus murmured, slowly sitting up.

“I want to,” Edge insisted. Rus looked up at him dubiously. Crouching down, Edge looped one arm around his back and the other behind his knees and lifted him.

Rus clung to him, and laughed softly, despite himself. “hey, come on, that’s cheating.”

“If you wanted someone who plays fair, you shouldn’t have married a Fell monster,” Edge told him, carrying him up the stairs. Rus only shook his head, burying his face against Edge’s chest.

“asshole.”

 

Edge turned the heat up high before stripping himself down. He glanced at Rus, who was sitting on the closed toilet lid, still fully clothed. Edge crouched in front of him and began to pull his hoodie over his head. “I can’t get you wet if you’re wearing all these clothes,” he said, winking.

“sounds like quitter’s talk,” Rus murmured, with a half-smile. He let Edge remove his tank top and pants, hunching in on himself when he was bare.

Edge gently pried his arms away so that he could look at him. "Still beautiful," he whispered, and pressed a kiss against his cheekbone.

"still cheesy," Rus responded, but he was blushing.

Edge kissed him again—on the mouth this time, longer, deeper—before he guided him into the shower. He shuddered as the scorching water hit his bones, but Rus seemed unaffected. Edge wet a cloth and slathered it in soap, wiping Rus’s bones and stripping away the stale magic that lingered there.

Edge wasn’t sure when Rus had last showered. He didn’t ask.

Rus let Edge wash him, leaning against him for support as Edge wiped away the dirt and grime from between his ribs and vertebrae. Once Rus was clean, Edge held him against his chest, and they stood. Still, unspeaking, undemanding. Just. Stood.

 

“Toast?” Edge asked as he ladled Rus a bowl of soup. Rus made a non-committal noise and Edge buttered a piece for him, putting it on a plate beside his bowl. He eyed Rus as he sipped at his own soup. Rus swirled his spoon around in the bowl, occasionally stabbing at a potato or piece of carrot. “Eat. It’s good,” Edge told him.

Rus glanced at him, deadpan. “don’t flatter yourself.”

“Prove me wrong.”

Rus rolled his eye-lights, but the corner of his mouth twitched. He ate the soup slowly, giving Edge a look as if to say  _‘there? happy now?’_

Edge watched him with a smile. There was a rumble of thunder outside, and rain began to patter against the window, heavy and comforting. “Nice weather,” Edge remarked.

“you really wanna talk about the weather?” Rus asked, sullenly.

Edge didn’t respond to that, instead approaching a different topic. “We sold a lot of those sugar skulls at the bakery today—you know, the ones that you suggested the other week?” Rus didn’t offer a reply, just nodded and stared into his bowl, turning its contents with his spoon, once again disinterested in actually eating the food.

Edge’s soul squeezed unpleasantly, but he didn’t allow his mask to falter. After finishing his own soup, he picked up his bowl and placed it in the sink. “Had enough?” he asked Rus as he came to collect his bowl too. Rus nodded and Edge bent to kiss his skull before taking his bowl. “We should have some of that dessert I made last week,” Edge said as he ran a sink of water. “The lemon meringue pie. You liked that, didn’t you?”

“i like all your cooking,” Rus pointed out, which drew a smile from Edge.

“Of course you do,” he said. “I’m an excellent cook.”

“yeah, alright, don’t oversell it,” Rus said, though he was smiling at the table. Some of the tension uncoiled in Edge’s chest, his soul warming a little.

Rus polished off every bite of his dessert. Edge was relieved, pleased that the dessert approach had worked. One could never go wrong with Rus and his sweets.

 

The rain was still heavy when Edge climbed into bed beside Rus later that night. Rus was curled up on his side, but he wasn’t asleep, staring at the wall. Edge slotted himself against his back and held him snugly against his chest, wrapping him up in his arms. “Hey,” he murmured, nudging his face against Rus’s neck. “I love you. You remember that, okay?”

Rus hummed faintly and didn’t move, but Edge could see that his hands were quivering where they were clasped in front of him. “It’s alright,” he whispered, stroking two fingers over the back of Rus’s neck. “I’ve got you, okay?”

Edge held Rus tighter when his chest began to heave and his quiet sobs filled the room. He didn’t ask why he was crying, knowing there was no real reason. He just. Was. And there was little Edge could do but hold him until it passed.

And so he did.

**Author's Note:**

> If you're over 18, feel free to come say hi to me on my tumblr, [@alicedragons](https://alicedragons.tumblr.com/). I also post drabbles and fic updates here: [@dragonfics](https://dragonfics.tumblr.com/).
> 
> Thank you all for reading!


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